Another Boy, Another Chapter
by wastingaway
Summary: There's nothing wrong with her, really there isn't. Why can't they just leave her alone? She doesn't have a problem. Really. So what if her past relationships have been anything but perfect. So what if she still cries. She's still living, isn't she?
1. The Beginning

**Another Boy, Another Chapter**

**Summary**: There's nothing wrong with her, really there isn't. Why can't they just leave her alone? She doesn't have a problem. Really. So what if her past relationships have been anything but perfect. So what if she still cries. She's still living, isn't she?

In this chapter:

' Testing ' talking

' _Testing_ ' omni- point of view

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"Good evening, and how are we feeling today?"

_Too cheerful._

"…I could be better."

_So bored._

"Well, I guess we both know what you're here for today,"

_Still damn cheerful._

"Not really, care to enlighten me?"

_And cue the sarcasm._

"Your friends and family are worried about you. That's why they recommended you to me."

_Ah, not so cheerful this time, are we?_

"That's absurd. There's nothing to be worried about, I'm perfectly fine."

_Keeping telling yourself that._

"Oh? I beg to differ. Care to show me your latest hobby, hm?"

_Stupid arrogant, condescending piece of…_

"Not really. Since you seem to know everything, there's no point, is there."

_Oh, going for smug this time?_

"Sigh, must we do this? We both know that the only reason you're here is because you've basically stopped talking to your family, ignored your friends, and started that habit of yours. All I want to do is to help you."

_Stop sounding so hopeful. There's no hope._

"I doubt you could help me."

_Oh no, the deadly eye roll combined with a glare! The world is ending! Please pay no mind to the sarcasm._

"I think I can prove you wrong on that one. I _am_ one of the best after all," _oh she was so _**smug**! "Now I've spoken with one of your best friends and she told me that this all started with a boy, care to explain?"

"…You're really nosy and persistent, you know that?"

_A cross between apathy and anger._

"Oh, but that's my job. Now let's talk about the boys in your life. That's all we'll talk about for today's session."

**Now**_ she decides to act like a professional?_

"Now why would I want to do that? That's _my_ business that you have no right to know."

_And now the teenager filled with angst comes in._

"Please, cooperate with me here. Your mother only wants the best for you and we're not even going to get into anything deep here. Just tell me about your first crush or boyfriend. After all, I was a young girl once too."

_Sounds… concerned?_

"Sigh… Well, Anko, I guess that's… ok."

_Ah, the reluctant acceptance._

"I'm glad to here it, so why don't you tell me about yourself, Sakura."

"Well, when I was twelve, my mother had the grand notion that my old school in Suna wasn't _good enough_ for me anymore. So she brilliantly decided to move our family to Konoha so I could get the best education I could… load of bull. I could've gotten a decent education anywhere, dontcha think? This place was _hell_ when I first came… until I met a boy. His name was Uzamaki Naruto"

_Why is she here again?_


	2. Uzamaki Naruto

"Naruto was just about the greatest guy I've ever met. He was always so energetic and optimistic. He was my light back then. He was my best friend."

"And he still is, isn't he?"

Ignoring the interruption, Sakura continued on with her story. "Yes, yes he is. We don't spend that much time anymore since we live so far away from each other but whenever we can hang out again, I love it."

Anko smiled at this small information Sakura could give – even if it was pretty much common knowledge to all of Sakura's friends. "I'm sorry, continue with your story, please."

"Well, we spent almost every minute of school with one another. He was the class troublemaker and I was the class genius that actually did anything – another boy, Nara Shikamaru was five times smarter than I was, but he never applied himself to anything. Anyway, it was pretty obvious that Naruto had more than… friend feelings for me. I didn't really wanna do anything about it though because he was my _best _friend and I couldn't stand it if I hurt him.

"But then it got to the point where he would always ask me to go with him to his favorite ramen stand, as a date. I couldn't keep rejecting him and see him walk so… dejectedly back home with me. After a couple of these "dates" I realized that I _did_ have feelings for Naruto too, more than friends kind of feeling…" Sakura smiled at this memory before continuing her story.

"Well, we finally kind of… unofficially got together."

"Kind of? What do you mean?" interrupted Anko, again

"Well… we were just _together_ but it wasn't with a proper question or anything, you know. He never actually asked me and I never actually asked him, but we were just together," explained Sakura.

"Oh, I see. That's cute, how you two just knew," Anko commented

"I suppose. Anyway, once we started school again, it just… didn't work out anymore. Even though we lived seconds away from each other and I spent most of my time at his house with our friends, it wasn't the same. I think secretly my mother wanted me to end up with him too. No one can really resist his personality.

"Anyhow, our relationship began getting strained because it wasn't the same anymore. We grew up a bit, I guess and we both realized it wasn't working out. But Naruto promised me once that if we were to ever break up, he wasn't going to be the one to instigate it, so I knew that even though he knew our relationship wasn't working, he wouldn't have the heart to end it. So I had to do it myself.

"It wasn't as dramatic as relationships back then where the girls always spoke trash on their ex-boyfriends and the boys publicly flirted with other girls to get their ex-girlfriends jealous. Naruto fully understood and we still stayed friends after that, the best of friends, in fact."

"So then, what happened next?" Anko asked.

"I met one of Naruto's other friends that transferred to the school the following year: Inuzuka Kiba."


	3. Inuzuka Kiba

"Tell me about Kiba. He sounds like one of those bad boy types, am I right?" Anko started moving her eyebrows up in a suggestive way… creepy!

"Uh, I guess you could say that," replied an uneasy Sakura.

Anko laughed before giving Sakura a gesture to continue.

"Well, I met him through Naruto at his birthday party one year. He seemed nice enough to talk to, and he flirted with me a lot back then and I have to admit it flattered me.

"But Naruto didn't really approve of me talking to Kiba at all. I always thought maybe it was a protectiveness he had over me because I couldn't see any major flaws with Kiba. So one day, Kiba asked me to be his girlfriend and of course I said yes.

"But… turns out Naruto was right. Kiba wasn't that great of a guy afterall. Even when he was with me, I knew he flirted with other girls, sometimes right in front of me too. I mean, I thought his playful nature was just a part of him and that when he was in a relationship, he could tone it down, but I was wrong.

"He even flirted with my best friend, Ino. Ino was disgusted and told me right away and Kiba's older sister overheard us and told Kiba. I guess in order to save face, Kiba broke up with me."

"What! What a complete jerk!" exclaimed a peeved Anko.

"That's not even the worst of it," Sakura continued, "he didn't even have the guts to break up with me. He asked one of his friends, Aburame Shino, to break up with me _for _him."

"Why all the nerve!" now Anko was just scary mad. She began muttering something about jerks, kicks in the balls, and a lot of tar…

"Uh, actually I didn't. It's not like he was important enough for that anyway."

"So you didn't start your habit with him?" Anko was calming down now with intrigue.

"No, not with him. It was actually Naruto's best friend, Uchiha Sasuke"


	4. Uchiha Sasuke

"Wait, wait. Uchiha Sasuke as in heir to Uchiha Corp Uchiha Sasuke?"

"The one and only," replied a solemn Sakura.

"Well don't just sit there, tell me all about it!" a clearly curious Anko asked demanded impatiently.

"He was… different. He wasn't like Naruto who I could only treat as a friend, and he wasn't like Kiba who was just trying to be a player. Sasuke had some depth in him and an aura of mystery around him.

"When Naruto first introduced me to him, he was so… nonchalant like I didn't matter to him. I was so infuriated at him that I made fun of his hair. I told him it looked like a chicken's butt."

Anko started laughing like there was no tomorrow for a full two minutes before Sakura thought she had to perform CPR before Anko passed out. When Anko finally calmed down and wiped the tears from her eyes, she said, "I gotta admit, that's true. It **does** look like a chicken's butt!"

"Yeah well… the other girls didn't think it was so funny. Evidently, Sasuke was the school's heartthrob ever since his older brother, Uchiha Itachi. Even Ino admitted that she had a small crush on him.

"I luckily only had one class with him – world history – but I had it with Naruto too so it wasn't that bad… if it weren't for the fact and our teacher, Iruka-sensei, hadn't made us sit at the same table for the entire year and work on all of the group projects together.

"But I have to admit, Sasuke _was_ pretty handsome and just made you want to get to know him. After a couple months sitting with him and getting glares from all of the girls, I developed a… _small_ crush on him."

"Wait, Sakura. In your file, it says you had strong feelings for him that bordered on _obsession_," Anko raised her eyebrow at this with a smirk on her face.

"Ahem, well… that is… you see… Ahem. It was just a childhood crush that… lasted for a very, very long time. But that's besides the point. Sasuke knew that I liked him and that Naruto used to date me, so he just stayed away. He hated girls who would basically throw themselves at him just for a date or something. I wasn't that drastic, but I tried hard to win his attention too.

"I tried to show him that I was good enough to be his girlfriend and that I stood out from the rest… despite my stupid pink hair and ugly green eyes. I wanted him to accept me, the same way how Naruto tried to win everyone's affections.

"I started pestering Sasuke to walk me home or for dates or just to say hi to me once in a while. But he always rejected me or criticized me. It got to the point where I was so depressed that this one boy thought so lowly of me that I started to well… cut myself.

"At first it was just one or two, because I wasn't used to the pain, but I started being able to handle more and more. I never wanted to kill myself… I just wanted to see my blood. Blood is fascinating, the way that it flows out of your cuts and moves down your arms… I was so into it, until Naruto and Sasuke found out about it.

"I managed to get Naruto to promise not to tell anyone about it by promising that he wouldn't see another cut on me. Of course I put in a loophole in it so that I could cut myself… but in places where Naruto would never notice. But Sasuke…

"I didn't even tell Sasuke, I was talking to Naruto on a bridge that we used to hang out on and he eavesdropped on us. He had the nerve to call me weak and good for nothing… just because I resorted to that. I don't think it's cowardly. I think it takes guts to take that pain and make yourself bleed. Wimps wouldn't be able to hold that knife over their skin.

"But being the infatuated little girl I was, I believed him and tried to make myself better, in every way possible. Ino and I even stopped talking once she realized that I had feelings for Sasuke too. We wanted to compete for his attention fairly and not let our friendship stand in the way… how foolish of us! Our friendship should've been more important than that cold-hearted jerk."

"At least you two are best friends again, though," offered Anko.

"I suppose, but that came at a price too. Sasuke would always protect me even though he told me he thought I was weak. Whenever people bullied me for my forehead or when girls picked on me because of Sasuke, he would always appear. In turn, I tried to cheer him up the best I could. He never told us back then… but I found out that his family had a lot of problems.

"His brother was the golden child of the family and his dad would always ignore Sasuke. His mother loved him with all her heart, but even his brother didn't pay that much attention to him. I found out that Sasuke really adored Itachi and wanted to grow up just like him… before Itachi left the family.

"After that, his father started blaming Itachi's departure on his mother. That it was _her_ child who shamed the Uchiha name. That it was _her_ child that was so useless. That it was _her_ child who he was still left with – Sasuke.

"Needless to say, Sasuke didn't have the perfect family environment, but neither did Naruto and that's how they became best friends – based on common background and constant bickering.

"But then something really bad happened… Something happened to Sasuke and he just left one night. I was walking in the park when I saw him walking towards the train station. He told me he was going to find Itachi and make him pay for breaking up the family. That he was going to find Itachi's former partner – Orochimaru – to train him to fight Itachi.

"Learning how to fight was all the rage back then. My mother thought it would be a safer place to be, but it was even worse. There were fights all over the place and I wasn't exactly that great in the fighting department.

"Sasuke, Naruto, and sometimes an upper-classmen that Naruto and Sasuke knew, Hatake Kakashi, would have to protect me… I really was weak. I was so weak that I couldn't… stop Sasuke from leaving… I couldn't stop Naruto from getting hurt trying to find him… I couldn't stop hurting _myself_ after all of that."

"Oh my… you went through all of that when you were only thirteen?" a shocked Anko asked.

"It wasn't really what _I_ went through, but what Sasuke had to go through… I just experienced the after effects. He was gone for so long… we were all scared of him and for him. Everyone has heard of Orochimaru… He was in Itachi's gang, Akatsuki, before he decided to form his own gang called Sound. Personally, I think Akatsuki is a better than Sound for a gang, but whatever floats his boat.

"We saw Sasuke in a couple fights too… ones that could've ended his life. Everyone wanted him to come back but he refused. He said he wouldn't rest until Itachi was out of his life forever. What else could we do? We tried to move on with our lives… except Naruto and I. It was three long years before Sasuke finally came back to us.

"He said that he was tired of Orochimaru and… challenged him to a fight. Sasuke was the victor of course. Things seemed… better again. During that time, Ino and I became friends again and decided to never, ever let a boy come between us again. Like I said, we really were foolish.

"And one night, when I was at home, Sasuke knocked on my door. Now imagine Sasuke, shivering from the snow, a scowl on his face, and at _my_ door. I squealed like a little girl inside. But I didn't know what he was doing there… until…

"He apologized for all of the pain he put me through and asked me to be his girlfriend. Of course I said yes! I was so happy. It was then that Naruto finally initiated a relationship with another girl in our class, Hyuuga Hinata. She must have had the longest crush on him. She was blushing around him… it was so cute.

"Anyway, Sasuke and I went to Naruto's house to hang out since Naruto doesn't have any parents and no one would mind three teenagers making a lot of noise. We watched The Exorcist and then Sasuke walked me home. I thought he was going to kiss me… it would've been the perfect Christmas present, but for some reason he pulled back.

"I didn't really mind because I didn't know if I was ready anyway. Even though I've liked him for so long, it seemed unrealistic. That is, until the next day.

"I was surprised once again to find a Sasuke at my door. I was he was dropped by to give me my present and I was waiting anxiously for it… but he ended up breaking up with me.

"What? It was only three days though!" shouted a confused Anko.

"I don't know what happened either. I don't even know why he decided to ask me out in the first place. But honestly, I wasn't all that sad. It was like what I've been waiting for and wanting for the last three years, I finally had it and I was happy with just that."

"You got some guts, Sakura. I would've marched over to his house and kick his rich Uchiha butt," Anko started smiling and inwardly applauding Sakura for her resolve.

"Yeah well… I don't know. He **is** a good friend though. The three of us are still best of friends after all these years. And then I met him…"

"Him? Him who?" asked Anko.

Sakura remained quiet for a while before she finally whispered out, "…Hyuuga Neji."


	5. Hyuuga Neji

"But that was nearly three years ago!" Anko cried out.

"Yeah… a long three years ago," Sakura replied. She seemed oddly… happy and sad about this memory at the same time. It was as if she couldn't make up her mind or heart about the boy.

"Well, what about him? I've seen around and he's quite the looker," Anko teased.

"Yeah… he's… different from the rest of the boys. Actually, when I first talked to him, I hadn't even met him yet."

"What do you mean? How can you talk to him but not meet him? Was it over the phone?" a curious Anko asked.

"No, I met him through an on-line chat room. I know, I know, it sounds incredibly lame but it's the truth. Some of Hinata's friends made a chat room and she sent me an invite. And that's when I met Neji for the first time.

"I mean, sure, I've seen him around school, but there's a different between _knowing_ someone and knowing _of_ someone. And it turns out that Neji is a major pervert," Sakura said with a smile.

"Now _however_ did you find that out, hm, Sakura?" Anko had that mischievous glint in her eyes again. At least she wasn't using her eyebrows to do her talking again… creepy! 

"You wouldn't believe it unless you actually saw it. I'm not really sure how or why but Neji decided to talk to me after the chat room. He acts so differently on the screen when no one is around to really judge him or have people eavesdrop. The first thing he said to me was… a dirty joke.

"I admit that after hanging out with boys for most of my young life and having Naruto as my best friend shouldn't and couldn't classify me as the most innocent girls in the world, but it just shocked me! Hyuuga Neji just told me, Haruno Sakura, a dirty joke!"

"I have to admit, it sounds a bit farfetched!" Anko started laughing at this thought.

"Yeah… but, that's basically how we met. We actually had U.S. History together, but we sat on opposite sides of the room. I remember once when we had to either recite or sing the preamble, he was the _only one_ in our class to refuse to sing it. But even the great Hyuuga Neji has his flaws.

"He forgot a line in the middle of the preamble and very clearly cursed and said 'shit.' Our teacher, Ibiki-sensei, heard him and was so amused at him… That was probably the first time I actually noticed him.

"Anyway, I developed feelings for him along our… friendship, and I hate the fact that every time a girl is best friends with a guy or vis versa, people always assume they like each other! In my case it was just coincidence, but hey, it doesn't happen all the time!

"But uh… back to the story… I admitted that I liked him… but he said that he didn't like me, so I backed off. I didn't want to make him feel bad or awkward so I remained friends with him even though I was rejected. Feelings shouldn't get in the way of friendship, so I just pushed them aside.

"But… at the same time, I developed an interest in someone else… Someone I can't really talk about. I'm not sure if it was because of Neji's rejection or not, but I just… _kind of_ had feelings for him. And he said that he felt the same way… but he was in the same situation as I was.

"He had liked both this other girl, Matsuri, ever since grade school but never had the guts to tell her. I encouraged him to go to her… double the heartbreak!

"Anyway, back to Neji… One day he decided to ask me out! He said he was scared to admit his feelings for me… because he didn't know 'how to handle it.' Honestly, I think that's a lame excuse, but at least I could finally be with him.

"The other guy understood and dated Matsuri while I dated Neji. Neji was always very sweet… around me, anyway. But whenever it was us and someone else, he always acted so cold. And he believed in fate so much. He truly believed that we were… meant to be…"

"Wow. Now THAT is sweet!" Anko said with a huge grin on her face.

"…I suppose. But all that fate stuff… I don't really believe in it… someone made me not want to…" Sakura trailed off and Anko looked at her with worry.

"Oi, Sakura. It's ok, just continue with your story. Time is money, after all!" Anko exclaimed in attempts to lighten the mood.

"Well, Neji and I were together for a while… but then I had to break up with him. The feelings changed… Sometimes I thought I was only with him because of the other person's rejection and that didn't seem fair.

"After Neji and I broke up, I thought that he was so angry with me and never wanted to see me again. So I tried to grant him his wish. As I watched from the sidelines, Neji continued to live on and the other boy… well, he broke up with Matsuri and… then _we_ became a couple."

"And _who_ exactly was this boy?"

"…None other than… Uchiha Itachi."

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**I know, I know. I realize the chapters are relatively short, but at least I pumped out five in one sitting and I'll continue to update if not daily then every other day.**

May 12, 2007


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